Manoj Bajpayee reveals why ‘dimaag ka tedha’ Anurag Kashyap didn’t direct Shool: ‘More than stubborn, he’s mad’

Manoj Bajpayee recalled that Anurag Kashyap turned down the chance to direct Shool because he had made up his mind about what his first film would be.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | Updated: May 23, 2023 12:48 PM IST

2 min read

Anurag Kashyap and Manoj Bajpayee on The Kapil Sharma Show.

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Actor Manoj Bajpayee‘s career leveled up after he starred in director Anurag Kashyap’s gangster epic Gangs of Wasseypur, but like his co-star Piyush Mishra recently, he used the choicest of words to describe the filmmaker. In an interview, he was asked why Anurag didn’t direct Shool, as he had previously said that he was supposed to.

Manoj told The Lallantop that Anurag could have directed Shool had he wanted to, because he’d also written the dialogues, but he chose not to because he was adamant that his first film be Paanch. Released in 1999, Shool was produced by Ram Gopal Varma and directed by his assistant, Eshwar Niwas.

Also read | ‘As Jaya Bachchan said waah, Amitabh Bachchan got up and sat elsewhere’: Manoj Bajpayee recalls ‘reserved’ Big B’s response to Shool

Asked if Anurag was displeased about changes made to his script, Manoj said in Hindi, “No, that wasn’t the case. He was the writer, he could’ve directed it if he wanted to. But he had a script for a film called Paanch. You will all know that he is a ‘dimaag ka tedha aadmi (slightly eccentric man)’. He had decided that his first film would only be Paanch, and that he wouldn’t direct anything else before it.”

From Manoj’s perspective, this seemed strange, because Anurag was turning down golden opportunities. “You will not find a more eccentric man. He had work, he was in charge, he’d written Shool, but he didn’t direct it. He’s stubborn, but more than stubborn, he’s mad.” Paanch, of course, went through several behind-the-scenes issues, and eventually didn’t get a theatrical release at all. After touring the festival circuit, it was leaked on torrent sites, where it developed a cult following. Anurag has denied that he was behind the leak.

In a 2009 interview with journalist Ajay Brahmatmaj, Anurag had said, “I started writing Shool, which I was suppose to direct. But there were some changes done by the producer in the second half. I withdrew from the project as a director.”

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